PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Saturday, July 16, 2011
Tour / Presentation: 2:00pm – 5:00pm
Contact: Richard Hunter Public Relations Co-Chair
Trevor Walker Public Relations Co-Chair
RSVP today to attend the lecture @
Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Building
Location: 77 Forsyth Street, SW, Atlanta, GA 30303
Part of the 2011 Architecture Tour Series Supported by AIA Atlanta
Presented by U.S. General Services Administration, The Beck Group, and Lord, Aeck and Sargent
About the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Building
When the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Building was completed in 1933, it was the largest construction project in Atlanta. Designed by prominent architect A. Ten Eyck Brown, the seven-story granite and marble “starved classicism” style building contains outstanding examples of Art Deco-inspired ornamentation. Georgia stone was used in the building, with Stone Mountain granite for the base and Georgia marble from quarries at Tate for the façade. Originally the main U.S. Post Office for Atlanta and located adjacent to Terminal Station during the city’s railroad growth period, the building’s recent rehabilitation showcases historic features within modern, energy-efficient office space for GSA’s Southeast Sunbelt Regional headquarters.
The project, targeting LEED Silver Certification, is a fusion of rehabilitation, preservation, recreation and sustainable design, using the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and the Building Preservation Plan as guidelines. Executed in multiple phases while the building remained occupied, the project team aptly dealt with changing safety, security, and accessibility complications. In the first phase, the building’s stone façade was completely repaired and restored, steel windows were refurbished and the plazas restored. Reopening the two-story light well was a priority and allowed the transformation of underutilized basement levels into attractive day-lit ground and terrace spaces. Accessibility of the facility was enhanced with a new ramp and elevator. New landscape plantings indigenous to Georgia and furnishings were added to the exterior spaces. In the most recent phase, historic character-defining features of the building such as the postal lobby were preserved and missing elements recreated based on original photographs and architectural design plans. A striking backlit iconic image of Dr. King greets visitors as they enter the building. Office work spaces and conference rooms on the lower three floors of the building retain and showcase historic elements such as exposed brick, wooden bead-board, postal catwalks, and high ceilings with exposed ductwork. The prominent accent colors in interior spaces were inspired by 1920s and 1930s postal stamps provided by the Smithsonian Institute and the creative use of stamp imagery serves as a reminder of the original function of the building.
About the U.S. General Services Administration
GSA's mission is to use expertise to provide innovative solutions for federal agencies in support of their missions and by so doing foster an effective, sustainable, and transparent government for the American people. GSA’s vision is to achieve a Zero Environmental Footprint by eliminating the impact of its buildings and operations on the natural environment.
GSA consists of the Federal Acquisition Service, the Public Buildings Service (PBS), and various staff offices. Eleven regional offices extend GSA’s outreach to federal clients nationwide. PBS serves as the landlord for the civilian federal government. PBS manages 342 million square feet of workspace for a million federal employees in 2,100 American communities. The 1,500+ buildings owned by PBS comprise 51 percent of the agency’s inventory. PBS leases the remaining 49 percent from the private sector.
PBS designs and builds award-winning courthouses, border stations, federal office buildings, laboratories, and data processing centers. In addition, PBS repairs, alters, and renovates existing facilities; over 100 child care centers are housed at facilities managed by PBS.
PBS works to revitalize communities by the effective re-use of unneeded or underutilized federal property. It commissions artwork for new federal buildings and maintains a substantial inventory of New Deal art. PBS is an acknowledged leader in energy conservation, sustainability, recycling, and historic preservation--maintaining more than 400 historic properties. Learn more about GSA and PBS at www.gsa.gov.
About The Beck Group
Founded in 1912, Beck is a full-service design and construction company with its’ Eastern Division headquarters being located in Atlanta since 1939. Beck is in the business of devising solutions for client’s needs through the development of real estate, the design of architecture and interiors and the construction of buildings. In addition to greenfield developments, Beck has become a leader in complex renovation and building re-use projects. Beck serves a wide range of industries in the private and public sectors, including arts, corporate, healthcare, entertainment, religious, higher education, retail, and hospitality. Beck has more than 500 employees, many of whom are LEED-accredited professionals, working from a network of offices in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Mexico City, San Antonio and Tampa. For more information, go to www.beckgroup.com
About Lord, Aeck and Sargent
Lord, Aeck & Sargent (LAS) is an award-winning architectural firm serving clients in scientific, academic, historic preservation, arts and cultural, and multi-family housing and mixed-use markets. The firm’s core values are responsive design, technological expertise and exceptional service. In 2003, The Construction Specifications Institute awarded Lord, Aeck & Sargent its Environmental Sensitivity Award for showing exceptional devotion to the use of sustainable and environmentally friendly material, and for striving to create functional, sensitive and health buildings for clients. In 2007, Lord, Aeck & Sargent was one of the first architecture firms to adopt the 2030 Challenge, an initiative whose ultimate goal is the design of carbon-neutral buildings, or buildings that use no fossil-fuel greenhouse gas-emitting energy to operate, by the year 2030, Lord, Aeck & Sargent has offices in Ann Arbor, Michigan; Atlanta, Georgia; and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Learn more about Lord, Aeck and Sargent at www.lordaecksargent.com.
About AIA Atlanta
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Atlanta is the largest professional association of licensed Architects, architectural interns, and allied professionals in Georgia. For over 25 years, the AIA Atlanta Architecture Tour series has been dedicated to advancing the science and art of planning and building in the Atlanta Community. The Tour Committee is a volunteer effort that works to educate the public about the profession of architecture through guided tours of significant projects in the Atlanta area. For additional tours, visit AIA Atlanta at www.aiaatlanta.org.
-End-